Blogs

A Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials, or CHaRM, is a brick-and-mortar drop-off site for items and materials that people cannot recycle and should not dispose of. In practice, it is essentially a clearinghouse for waste that people otherwise don’t know what to do with. For anyone that still does not have access to recycling services for whatever reason, it would also serve as a drop-off location for single-stream recycling, and even organics and residuals as well. It is a one-stop destination for anything that any individual considers “waste”.

Atlanta is severely lacking in CHaRM. Now let me explain before you assail me with messages extolling upon the virtues of Atlanta’s citizens and our friendliness and reputation for hospitality and all those attributes that are extolled upon by Chamber of Commerce types. Or before you describe the physical beauty of our neighborhoods and parks or our interesting buildings and areas of Atlanta, let me tell you a little about CHaRM.

Everyone knows that there are household chemicals that can harm you because they are poisonous. That’s why we put them out of reach of our children and pets. But did you know that these chemicals can harm you even after you’ve thrown them away? When these chemicals are thrown in the trash, they wind up in landfills, and subsequently, our groundwater. When they are dumped onto the ground or poured into the storm sewer, they contaminate surface water. In both cases, this water contamination results in higher water treatment costs and has a detrimental effect on the ecosystem and our drinking water!